@fusionfall-adeline sent:
((For Mr.Fizz! Give that man something nice for being one of the few semi-rational adults))
"U-Um, Mr.Fizz?" Addy slowly piped up as she held a basket close to her chest.
"S-Sorry to bother you. I just, just wanted to drop off something to say thank y-you for letting me go. And for listening t-to me when I said I was innocent." Dad always said that you should try to repay kindness with kindness. In school, he'd have her give teacher's gifts, or he'd bake a cake for his colleagues. So...It felt best to give a gift back to Mr.Fizz to say thank you. It was hard getting a gift for him. The kids said he loved soda, but of course, she couldn't gift that otherwis,e she'd be purchasing soda and technically distributing it. Then she'd really be in trouble. So she kept it to essentials that adults seemed to like. A new mug. Some fancy mustache wax that her dad's business friend said was the best for keeping mustaches shiny and looking brand new. The best stain removal cleaner on the market. Then a hundred-dollar gift card was tucked away inside the mug.
"I-i hope you like it. It's not much and I didn't know what you liked, but I just wanted to say thank you and that I a-appreciate it..."
The guards let the girl pass. Of course they did. The walkway over the factory complex was hardly a place for a child who could slip under the railings, but he withheld this lecture when he sees the basket.
Oh good grief. When he offered a shred of compassion, he didn't expect an imprinting in return! This is what 'kindness' brings you!
He clears his throat, awkward, torn between remaining polite and professional and going on a rant about how he is a scary villain who must command respect.
And such specific gifts. Mercy above.
"Your donation is...appreciated," he said, awkwardly. "Though unnecessary." He would not tell her to take it back, however. The mug, he lifts, out of habit.
He spies the gift card and sputters.
"Child," he snips, "That goes out of the territory of generous into ludicrous. I cannot accept such a gift from a child." That he barely knows. "What on earth does your mother think?"